The Calling

by Kelley Armstrong

  Daniel clenched his free hand, as if he was going to deck the guy. When I shook my head, he shoved Moreno hard and said, "She didn't make a mistake. The pilot dosed Mr. Tillson before we got on that helicopter. I saw it happen and I saw the injection spot."

  Moreno shrugged. "If he did, it was to prevent exactly that sort of scenario. Panic and tragedy."

  Daniel kept pushing him forward until we were deep in the woods. Then he kicked him in the back of the legs, knocking him to his knees.

  "Tough guy, huh?" Moreno said. "I'm not the one you're supposed to be using those skills on."

  "Oh, I think you are ... demon."

  Daniel's voice was steady, but I saw the hesitation in his eyes as he said the word. Moreno didn't and, for the first time, he looked genuinely surprised. With that, Daniel knew Sam had been telling the truth, and his chin dipped.

  "Yes, Daniel knows he's a benandanti," I said.

  "Suppose the Russo girl told him. We thought she might know." He looked at me. "And what about you? Figured out your superpowers yet?"

  Daniel looked over at me, but there was no shock in his eyes. Just the same look as when Moreno confirmed he was part-demon, one that said he'd already suspected as much.

  "I know something's happening to me," I said.

  "Already? Calvin will be pleased. So, Maya, do you want to know the big secret? What you really are?"

  "Of course she does," Daniel said.

  "Good." Moreno flashed a smile. "Then this is where we begin negotiations. You two lead me back to that cabin and let me call my associates. We'll take you someplace safe and tell you everything you need to know."

  "Um, right," I said. "We've escaped a helicopter crash, trekked through the forest all night, and captured you. But that was just for fun. Time to stop goofing off and turn ourselves in."

  "Do your parents let you get away with talking to adults like that?"

  "Only when those adults treat me like an idiot."

  "We have the upper hand here," Daniel said. "If you're going to give us some crap about turning ourselves in because we're a danger to society? Don't bother."

  "Danger to society?" Moreno pursed his lips as if considering it. "Not really. A danger to yourselves? Absolutely. You're going through a lot right now, but it's nothing compared to what's coming. You need help." He looked at me. "Have you met Annie?"

  My mouth went dry and my heart started to thud.

  "I take it that's a yes. I don't know how much you know about your 'condition,' Maya, but unless you want to end up like Annie, I'd suggest you take me back to that cabin. Turn yourselves in. Get the help you need. The kind of help the St. Clouds and the Edison Group can't provide."

  "Edison Group?" Daniel said.

  "Don't know as much as you think, do you? I'm betting, in the larger scheme of things, you barely know anything."

  "Tell us, then," I said. "Otherwise, how can we understand how much danger we're in?"

  "You're a clever one, aren't you? Nope. Sorry. You want more, you need to take me back to the cabin and call the others--your friends and mine."

  He wasn't budging. Although we could pretend we held the power here, he knew better because he knew we weren't going to hurt him. He'd laughed at the thought of us interrogating him, and as much as that pissed me off, he had a point.

  We were teenagers who'd grown up in a tiny town where we'd been treated like precious gems, which I guess, in a way, we were. We'd had an easy life. While we were tough enough to survive in the woods, we wouldn't hurt Moreno in order to make him talk. It went against every value that had been instilled in us. Daniel's power of persuasion was apparently on the fritz, so we were stuck.

  For a moment during our attempted interrogation, I considered getting Sam. I suspected she could have handled this. But I honestly didn't think it would do any good. Moreno wasn't telling us anything else.

  We patted him down and confiscated his cell phone. It needed a code, and he wasn't giving it up.

  Finally, we did the closest thing to torturing him we could come up with. We gagged him with the towel and tied him to a tree a couple hundred meters from the cabin.

  "Your friends aren't going to find you," Daniel said. "And the nights are getting cold. It'll be a race between hypothermia and dehydration, see which kills you first."

  We paused a moment, letting that sink in, then I said, "Are you sure you don't want to talk to us?"

  Moreno rolled his eyes, still looking amused.

  "He'll think it's a lot less funny by morning," I said to Daniel. "We'll come back then, see if he's changed his mind."

  We'd hoped that threat would be enough to get him talking. It wasn't. As we walked away, we looked back a couple of times to see if he was straining at his bonds, wildly trying to tell us he'd talk. He just sat there. Which meant we were screwed. No way we were hanging around until morning and then coming back. I suppose he knew that. Maybe he also knew we wouldn't really walk away and leave him to die--that his bonds weren't tight enough to bind him there forever. Just long enough to let us get far away as his friends searched for him.

  THIRTEEN

  "WE DIDN'T GET MUCH out of him," Daniel said when we were away from Moreno.

  "It fit with what I read in the cabin, though. It's starting to come together but--"

  Barking erupted in the forest. A very deep, very familiar, very loud bark.

  "Kenjii!" Daniel said.

  I broke into a run. Daniel kept pace behind me. As I ran, I mentally cursed the others for not quieting my dog. That bark would carry for miles.

  When I was close enough for Kenjii to hear me, I gave a soft whistle. She came crashing through the bushes.

  "No!" Hayley yelled. "Kenjii!"

  "It's okay," I said. "It's me."

  Kenjii barreled into me. I managed to avoid being bowled over, but when I tried to get past her, she bumped my legs, prodding me back the way I'd come.

  "Maya?" Hayley called, loud enough to make me wince. "Daniel?"

  I pushed Kenjii aside. She growled and leaped into my path, then bumped me with her head. Telling me to stay back. Don't come this way. When Daniel tried to pass her, she blocked him, too.

  I shoved her aside with a firm "no." I saw Hayley and Sam, standing near the abandoned ATV and dead deer. I tried to brush past Daniel. His arm shot out to stop me. And then I saw why. Corey was crouched beside the ATV, as if he'd been working on it. On the other side of the dead deer was a snarling, spitting cougar.

  "She came for the deer," I whispered. Seeing the cougar from another angle, I noticed her hanging teats. "She's lactating, which means she has cubs close by. The ATVs have probably been scaring away the game. She's getting desperate."

  "I appreciate the Nature Channel commentary," Corey said. "But it's really not helping, Maya."

  "Sorry."

  "Think you could use some of that animal whisperer mojo? Tell her the deer looks tasty, but she can have it. In fact, I insist."

  "You've forgotten everything my dad taught us all about dealing with big cats, haven't you?"

  "Oddly, it's slipped my mind. Something to do with seeing six-inch fangs a foot from my throat."

  "They're two inches, tops, and she's a meter away."

  "Maya..."

  "Step one, maintain eye contact. Step two, stand up. Never crouch around a cat--it makes you look like prey."

  He shot to his feet so fast the cougar started, then snarled.

  "Um, move slowly," I said.

  "Thanks."

  "Don't worry. She wants the deer, not you. Dead prey is easier to catch. Let her know you're surrendering it by backing away, slowly, while keeping eye contact."

  He did that. The cat stood her ground, crouched, but her ears were forward, head raised, rear legs still. In other words, considering attack, but not yet sure it was necessary.

  Once Corey had retreated a few meters, the cougar slunk forward, going for the deer. She grabbed it by the neck. Then, hauling it with her, she swung aroun
d, her back to the ATV as she looked over at us, checking out the remaining competition.

  I tightened my grip on Kenjii's collar, but she was staying calm.

  "Don't move," I murmured to the others. "Keep eye contact, but don't move."

  As I spoke, the cat met my gaze. Her eyes widened and her rounded pupils dilated. She lifted her head and sampled the air. Then she growled.

  I tried to step back. I knew I should, but my legs wouldn't obey. I stood my ground and I held her gaze, and when I did, everything else seemed to disappear. I felt the rush of wind. Heard my feet pounding against the earth. Smelled grass and pine needles and blood. Smelled the blood of the deer and felt the birthmark on my hip begin to throb. The throbbing pulsed outward, an ache that ran down my legs and up into my arms and--

  A wrench on my arm yanked me back to reality as I saw the cougar leap. Saw her fangs flash in a snarl, gaze still locked on mine. Saw Kenjii running at her.

  I screamed and lurched forward. Beside me, I dimly heard Daniel yell. Felt his fingers brush my arm. Heard my father's voice. If Kenjii ever goes after a bear or a cat, you can't interfere, Maya. No matter how hard it is to stand there and let her protect you, you cannot interfere.

  He was right. I knew he was right. And it didn't matter. I looked into that cat's eyes, and saw her change target, hitting my dog instead, and rage filled me, an indescribable primal rage, like when a cougar had attacked Daniel. There was no way in hell I was letting her hurt Kenjii.

  The cat took my dog down and they rolled, snarling and hissing. I kicked the cat. Kicked her with everything I had, and she fell to the side. I kicked her again, aiming for her wide skull. My foot made contact. The cougar went down hard. Kenjii leaped on her and pinned her by the throat.

  "No," I said before Kenjii could bite down. "No."

  The word sounded strange, harsh and guttural, but it stopped Kenjii and she settled for pinning the cat.

  Daniel caught my arm. I shook him off and walked over until I was right in front of the cat. Then I bent by her head and looked into her panic-filled, rolling eyes.

  Go. Take the deer and go. I don't want to hurt you.

  I meant to say the words aloud. I didn't hear them, though. Not outside my head. I looked the cat in the eyes and I thought them again, and she went still, gaze fixed on mine as her eyes stopped rolling.

  Go on. Take the deer. Feed your cubs. Leave us alone.

  She snorted as if she understood. I caught Kenjii by the collar and gently pulled her back. When Daniel moved up behind me, I reached back and took his hand. He hesitated for a second, then squeezed it, and stood beside me as the cougar picked up the deer by the throat again and dragged it off into the woods.

  "Situation averted," I said. My voice still sounded strange.

  Daniel squeezed my hand again, reassuring me. But the others said nothing. I looked back to tell them it was okay, she was gone, and we were safe, only they weren't staring after the cougar. They were staring at me.

  I released Kenjii and started to speak, then coughed to clear away whatever was making my voice sound so odd. I reached up to rub my throat. When my fingers brushed my skin, they felt strange, rough.

  I looked down at my hand. It was ... wrong. Misshapen. My fingers were thick, my nails almost like claws. There was hair on the back of my hand. Thick tawny hairs. As I stared at it, my hip started to throb again.

  I looked over at my other hand, the one Daniel was holding. It was the same way. He squeezed it again and leaned toward me, whispering, "It's okay."

  I wrenched away and ran.

  FOURTEEN

  I RACED PAST THE others, who stared at me like I was a sideshow freak. Kenjii tore after me. Daniel did too, calling my name. I stumbled into the forest, branches scraping me from all sides. I didn't look for a clear path, just barreled through the dense trees until I tripped over a log and went flying. Then I lay there, facedown. Kenjii caught up, licked my face and nudged me.

  "Maya?"

  I pushed up and scrambled into a patch of dead brush, burrowing into it, Kenjii tunneling after me. When I was sure I was hidden, I stopped and pressed my rough palms to my eyes, heaving deep breaths as my heart thudded.

  I stretched my hands out. Were they going back to normal? I touched my face, running my fingers along the familiar planes and contours. They felt ... off. Not completely different, just off, like the lines had shifted, cheekbones lower, chin less sharp, nose flattening.

  I rubbed my face hard.

  "Maya?"

  Kenjii lifted her head from my lap. When I still didn't answer Daniel, she whined as if to say Are we hiding on Daniel? It's been a long time since we played this game.

  "Maya?"

  "I--I'll be out in a minute."

  I heard him come closer. He didn't try to peer at me, just grunted as he lowered himself to the ground.

  "How about we back up?" he said.

  "What?"

  "Back up to before we went in the cabin. I was going to tell you what I thought was going on. With you. It starts with that old woman at the tattoo studio. The one who said you were a skin-walker."

  "I--"

  "Not yet. This is my chance to look brilliant. So she said you're a skin-walker. You've always had a way with animals. Especially cougars. Lately they won't leave you alone. We looked up skin-walkers, and saw that they change shape and have healing powers. Now, we could've made the leap and said that proves she was right, but we didn't, because that would be crazy."

  "Uh-huh."

  "Like getting sent to a book about Italian witch-hunters--when I'm Italian and I'm good at fighting--and deciding that's what I must be. Crazy. But then I found that note at Mina Lee's place. A list of four terms, including skin-walker and benandanti. That made me think some more about your healing powers and the big cats and the visions and the old woman at the tattoo place and your birthmark. I thought about me, too, the weird vibes, how they keep getting stronger, and about what my dad says, and dreams I've been having, and some other stuff--just small stuff, but it's been bugging me. At that point, it was starting to look a little more odd, but it was still too big a leap."

  "So when did you make it?"

  "I came close to a conclusion when I sent that helicopter pilot flying, but I wasn't really ready to commit until Sam's story sank in. With you? I wasn't sure until that Moreno guy mentioned Annie. Rafe's sister. I remembered the signs of a cougar around their cabin. I was worried. You brushed it off. Then Rafe freaked out about her going missing, and you two were whispering. When Moreno mentioned her, I flashed back to the cougar who appeared at your party. The young female with a mark on her flank. Annie's a skin-walker, isn't she? She changes into a cougar."

  "Yes."

  "That's what the mark means. Her mark and yours."

  "Yes."

  I told him the story. About Annie. About Rafe. About why Rafe came to Salmon Creek. About what he found there: me. What he told me about us, about my mother, about the experiment.

  Then, slowly, I crawled out of the dead brush until I could see him sitting there, arms wrapped around his knees, listening. Just listening.

  "So that's why Rafe came to Salmon Creek," I said. "He was looking for the skin-walker. That's why he was going through the girls. That's why he focused on me. He figured it out."

  Daniel shifted over until he was kneeling, his face a foot from mine.

  "He did like you," he said softly. "That wasn't an act. I'm sure of it."

  And I'd liked him. Really liked him. I realized that now. Too late, I realized that.

  When I'd first felt an attraction to Rafe, I told myself it was just that. Attraction. Then I discovered we were both skin-walkers and that seemed to explain it. I'd probably have felt the same for any skin-walker guy who showed up, and he'd have felt the same for any skin-walker girl.

  That made it easier. Easier than admitting I'd fallen for a guy who'd conned me. For a guy who might not really like me back. But now I realized how wrong I'd been.


  When I thought of Rafe, I did remember his touch, his kiss. But what I thought about most of all was him. Just him. His laugh. His eyes. His serious side. His fears for his sister. His worries for her, for himself, for me. His honesty that night on the roof, when he'd opened up. Wanting me to get to know him better.

  Now I never would get to know him better, and that's what really hurt. Too much pride. Too few opportunities.

  I rubbed my face.

  "It's back to normal," Daniel said.

  "What?" I peered at him through my fingers.

  "Your face. It looks normal, so you can stop rubbing. It wasn't bad before anyway. Just a little ... different."

  He reached to pull one hand from my face. "I know you're worried about what happened to Annie and whether it will happen to you. You're probably worried about the whole 'changing into a cat' part, too. But it's going to be okay. We'll figure this out and we'll find help and it'll be okay. I promise."

  I nodded.

  "I'm sorry," he said.

  "About what?"

  "Yesterday. I made that bone-headed comment about werewolves, and you decided not to tell me yet."

  "No, that's not--"

  "Liar. It was a dumb thing to say."

  "Um, no, I'm pretty sure that changing into an animal does qualify as a crazy idea."

  "Sure, but in a crazy cool way. I'm jealous. What do I get? Some kind of sonic boom shout? As superpowers go, very lame." He settled in beside me. "So tell me everything else. Have you ever started changing like that before?"

  I smiled. "Later. Let's start with you. You mentioned dreams and other things. Tell me what's been happening."

  He leaned back. I looked over at him, his face turned up to catch a few rays of sun streaming through the treetops.

  "The dreams started a few months ago," he said. "Dreams of fields. Fields of grapes and olives, which is weird enough. I'm not even sure if I knew how olives grow, but in the dream, I knew that's what they were. I--"

  "Daniel?" Sam's voice.

  We could hear all three of them tramping through the bushes. Kenjii got up, growling.

  "You tell them, girl," Daniel muttered. "No rest for the weary."

  "No," I said. "No rest for the endangered. We have to--" I stopped. "Nicole. Oh my God, I forgot about Nicole."